Open notebook
Design notes, budgets, schedules, vendor research, and mistakes belong in the record.
The point
An individual should be able to reach orbit.
GTO is a build-in-public proof of concept: define a Starship-scale personal satellite mission, understand the paperwork and costs, integrate with a launch provider, and document the whole thing without pretending the hard parts are easy.
Public record
The mission log will include the real tradeoffs.
The useful story is not just the final launch photo. It is the chain of choices that make the mission possible: what gets cut, what must be tested, where money goes, which regulations matter, and what a responsible personal satellite project actually requires.
No false certainty
Unknowns stay visible until they are resolved by evidence, paperwork, testing, or cash.
Responsible orbit
Compliance, debris mitigation, and radio licensing are part of the mission, not footnotes.
Status
Nothing that closes a locked flight need is add-to-cart this week.
A working design is now defined and source-captured. After Starship releases us, we fly our own satellite (about 50–150 kg), with two Starlink Mini Laser optical terminals and a high-definition Earth-viewing video payload. Riding attached to Starship remains an evaluated alternative. Public Starship power numbers stay unpublished, so after separation we still own the bus — the satellite body that supplies power, pointing, and communications. The locked orbit is 485 km altitude at 53° inclination. Mass and power envelopes, collision-avoidance and deorbit requirements, and a traceable research library support that baseline.
A first-pass power and thermal study is in. The power budget works if we fly cameras and skip the lasers for now. Flying both lasers wants a folding solar wing in the 250–350 W class. Some public ESPA products sit there — MMA rHAWK and FlexArray — and Redwire ELSA's published floor does not. SpaceX has not published size, weight, or power for the Mini Laser, so we are not inventing those numbers.
A first-pass compliance map is in. If the payload images Earth's surface, NOAA contact is the first paperwork gate. The FCC licenses radio, not optical (laser) wavelengths. Five-year post-mission disposal is already required. The printed smallsat track is not a schedule, and this is not a claim that we are licensed. This mass class is built to fit ESPA, a common rideshare adapter ring.
A first-pass attitude and propulsion study is in. HD Earth video is a tenth-of-a-degree body-pointing problem. Public optical terminals do the fine pointing inside the head. Mini Laser pointing stays unpublished — we are not inventing it. A small reaction-wheel pointing kit in the XACT class is the typical close at this mass; that is a class, not a purchase. A small thruster pack with about 50 m/s of push, one-newton class (hydrazine or green monopropellant), is still the first-pass propulsion close — mostly to meet the five-year deorbit rule.
485 km still sits in NASA's 400-versus-500 km decay gap, and it is a congested band. We do not have a cited collision-avoidance rate for this shell. A published 1–3 avoidance-maneuvers-per-year number (Funke) is for a different, higher polar orbit, not 485 km / 53°. Next is a real conjunction run, not another paper.
A first-pass command and ground study is in. The lasers carry the data, not the commands. A dead laser still needs radio for collision avoidance and the five-year disposal burn. Typical close is S-band on the 2025–2110 / 2200–2290 MHz pair with a commercial ground network — KSAT Lite or Leaf — rather than a backyard dish first. Amateur UHF is not the primary path.
A first-pass cost floor is in. The locked bus is mostly quote-only. SpaceX's printed rideshare prices are for sun-synchronous orbits, not this 53° path, so they are not our launch ticket. 53° / Bandwagon has no printed dollar. The Starship smallsat ticket is missing. NOAA remote-sensing contact is free. A Part 5 experimental or STA filing prints $140, not the older $90. Mini Laser price is not written.
Those maps plus a first-pass conjunctions check and a first-pass first-hardware map are now one executable picture. Nothing that closes a locked flight need is add-to-cart this week. A cheap garage surrogate bench exists; it does not close S-band, the attitude suite, the 1-N pack, the deployable array, or a space camera. CubeSat shop pages that print euros are still not a cart. The real flight parts still need a quote; a web shop cart does not close them. Next work is quotes (RFQs) for the array, attitude suite, propulsion pack, radio, ground network, and the 53° ride — and a real conjunction run at 485 km / 53° — not more architecture, and not a mission total. This remains an attempt, not a launch announcement. Follow the roadmap, build log, and research pages.
Phase 1 — Mission definition
After Starship releases us, we fly our own satellite (about 50–150 kg) with two laser terminals and dual HD cameras. The locked orbit is 485 km at 53°. Riding attached to Starship was evaluated as an alternative. Initial budgets and a source-captured research library sit under that baseline.
Phase 2 — Compliance map
First-pass map complete. If the cameras look at Earth's surface, NOAA contact is the first paperwork gate. The FCC licenses radio, not lasers. Five-year disposal is already required. The printed smallsat track is not a schedule. Next work is those gates, not a claim that we are licensed.
Phase 3+ — Interfaces and ADCS
After Starship releases us, we own power, heat, collision avoidance, and the five-year disposal showing. The live rideshare book is the Payload User's Guide (PUG) v11, August 2026. This mass class is built to fit ESPA, a common rideshare adapter ring. Public Starship power numbers stay unpublished. A small reaction-wheel pointing kit in the XACT class is the typical close — a class, not a purchase. A small thruster pack with about 50 m/s of push, one-newton class, is still the first-pass propulsion close, mostly for the five-year deorbit rule. Commands go over S-band, with a commercial ground network (KSAT Lite or Leaf), not a backyard dish first. The locked bus is quote-only. SpaceX's printed rideshare prices are for sun-synchronous orbits, not this 53° path. 485 km is a congested band; we do not have a cited collision-avoidance rate for this shell. Nothing that closes a locked flight need is add-to-cart this week. A cheap garage bench exists; it does not close flight parts. The real flight parts still need a quote. Next is those quotes and a real conjunction run.